Playing us for fools?

Does the late entry of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte represent a “game changer” in the presidential race?

Some analysts say Duterte, who ranked surprisingly high in the polls before he declared he was not interested in running for president, could upset the order of rankings of the declared candidates. For now, surveys indicate Sen. Grace Poe leading the contenders, followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay and former interior secretary Mar Roxas. One pundit opined that with Duterte throwing his hat in the ring, he could very well push Roxas, the “chosen one” of the ruling Liberal Party, out of the top three.

Duterte told reporters that Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who had persisted in courting the Davao mayor despite his “firm” denials of a possible presidential run, would be his running mate. So all that money spent on TV and radio ads, as well as streamers and posters, is not going to waste, after all.

Saying that he “could not accept an American” as president of the Philippines, referring to Poe whose disqualification case based on dubious citizenship was thrown out by the Senate Electoral Tribunal, Duterte said he is finally convinced to take the leap into the unknown.

I don’t know, though. Is it really Digong Duterte who is risking his all by his belated entry into presidential politics? Isn’t it rather we, the people, who are being thrown for a loop with this development? Were his reservations about contesting the presidency real or were these just melodramatic moves meant to keep people guessing and heighten the drama attendant to his candidacy?

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Speaker Feliciano Belmonte raises a valid point when he says he doubts if Duterte could simply step into the place vacated by PDP-Laban-declared presidential candidate Martin Diño, a former barangay chair, who has already withdrawn his candidacy for fear of being declared a “nuisance” candidate by the Commission on Elections. Belmonte says that Diño’s withdrawal has effectively closed the party’s door to naming Duterte as a replacement for Diño.

I get this feeling that all of us—voters, parties, the Comelec itself—are being played for fools by Duterte, who projects the image of not suffering fools gladly. He capitalizes on his “macho

image,” a mayor who speaks out fiercely and fearlessly against troublemakers, including communist rebels, to the extent of running roughshod over such time-honored values like human rights and justice.

On the occasion in which he announced that his presidential run was now “on the table,” Duterte made colorful remarks, laced with invectives, according to reports, joking that he would “kill” anybody who got in his way. Why do I get the feeling that he’s really half-serious about his threats—and his candidacy?

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In the course of our “tour” of the new printing facilities of the APO Production Unit, prior to the inauguration of the new passport processing machines some months ago, we were brought into a room where tax stamps were being printed for attachment on cigarette packs.

Hovering in the background were security people and representatives of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, as well as officials of APO, for the revenue stamps represented an important and crucial step to ensuring that government collects its rightful share of the revenues earned by manufacturers of, among other “sin” products, cigarettes.

According to APO officials, the printing by government of the stamps on cigarette packs and other products like liquor marked an important step and significant commitment, on the part of government, to make sure it got its rightful due of taxes on the earnings of such products.

Previously, the printing of such stamps was left to the manufacturers themselves, who would then report to the BIR how many packs of cigarettes they had sold and use the figure as basis for the taxes they owed. There was no way for government to check on the exact number of packs bearing legitimate stamps and later sold in stores and on the streets, and by extension to know if the companies were paying the right amount of taxes.

But with the enactment of the “sin tax” law, and the greater resolve of government, through the BIR, to collect the rightful taxes by entrusting the printing of stamps to the secure facility of APO, government now has an efficient and accurate way of assessing and collecting the rightful taxes.

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This is borne out by figures released by the BIR showing a 16-percent growth in the amount of excise taxes collected in the first nine months of the year. This translates to an equivalent of P91 billion in earnings for government, exceeding the P78.4 billion earned in the same period last year.

From cigarettes alone, the BIR was able to collect P61.4 billion, representing an 18-percent increase from the same period last year.

Observers say the “continued growth” in the amount of excise taxes collected is due mainly to the “tighter monitoring” of the BIR, as well as the cooperation of cigarette manufacturers counting on the leveling of the playing field for all engaged in the trade.

Meanwhile, addressing the problem of fake cigarettes made and sold by unregulated manufacturers, some companies have welcomed the new resolve of new Philippine National Police Director General Ricardo Marquez to go after the smugglers and fake cigarette makers. Reports say Marquez has ordered new PNP Deputy Director General (for operations) Danilo Constantino to intensify their operations against manufacturers of bogus cigarettes, some of which even bare legitimate brands, whose practices represent a threat to the health of Filipinos, as well as a huge potential loss in government revenue.